No Room to be Me
by AziSpaz
Summary: Hyuga Ricadeau's Jugend days are a nightmare of agoraphobia and a noisy room mate named Sigurd Harcourt. Things only get worse when they rent living space in the home of Jesiah Black. Betrayal, romance, and duty intermingle into a disasterous recipe in "N


Chapter One - Lost Cause

  
  
  
  
  
  


He lay motionless, except for his breathing. He could feel the heat of others looking down on him, and dimly he heard their voices. He heard an older voice shoo away the crowd, and then he was being shaken gently in someone's arms as the older voice firmly called out to him by his last name.

"Ricadeau! Ricadeau, are you awright?!"

Was he all right?! He just got slammed in the face by a high speed rubber ball the size of his head! He opened his eyes slowly, and moaned. "...ugh...coach?"

"Wow. He's actually conscious," a classmate behind the coach snickered. Everyone laughed.

"Come on Ricadeau, you should go to the nurse's office. Ms. Hawwa, escort him, would you?"

A young woman pushed her way through the crowd and into the circle the onlookers created around the injured ball player with their bodies. Her hair was sleek and bouncy, the most beautiful tone of indigo one had ever seen. Her eyes were matched with the same extravagant beauty. She bowed slightly. "Yes sir. Come with me, Mr. Ricadeau." She held her hand out to him. He took it gladly. Generosity like Miang Hawwa's was hard to come across when you were a lower class Solarian in a school dominated by esteemed citizens' sons and daughters.

Miang pulled him to his feet. "You're still dizzy. Here, lean on me. That's it."

"...thank you."

She smiled at him, and waved her hand passively. "No need for thanks. It's my pleasure to assist."

It was her pleasure, even! He had to smile back at her, it was only polite. It was also sincere. Hyuga Ricadeau was not party to the rest of the social class that overwhelmed Jugend with their numbers. Miang Hawwa was no exception either, as she was indeed a dignified first class citizen. Her dignity was not limited to her blood either. She was a natural leader, a vital element in any group project, and a powerful young woman for certain. He had been able to confirm the rumors that she had recently been accepted into the Elements class, a military rank not just anyone could join. Only those gifted with the abilities over a certain or all elements could join such an elite and powerful group. Specifically, it drew out hidden powers housed by a select few, and put them to use. Miang did not attend normal classes with other Jugend students since she was admitted. She attended thorough training courses instead.

Miang's steps were careful and yet swift as she guided the dizzy Hyuga to the nurse's office. She did him the mercy of taking him down the elevator, rather than stumble down the stairs.

"...feeling any better?"

"Yes, thank you."

She smiled, leaning her head to one side. "You are very shy around Gazel, aren't you?"

"...am I?"

Miang shook her head. "You don't have to pretend, Hyuga. I know. You're more Solarian than any other third class citizen by far. That was one of the reasons you were pulled out of there. But you aren't Solarian enough I guess to many of the students here." She waved her hand in front of his face. "A guy like Hyuga Ricadeau has nothing in common with anyone. It is hard for you to make friends, isn't it?"

"...yes."

"I know. But, maybe that leaves less room for distractions? You are at the top of your class."

"...not exactly."

"Oh?"

Hyuga pushed his glasses up. "Sigurd Harcourt is ahead of me. I'm second."

"Out of how many, Hyuga? About two hundred and fifty at least."

He was silent. He could not argue after all, she was right.

"Sigurd Harcourt...You are going to be living with him aren't you?"

Hyuga blinked. He hadn't told anyone that he was boarding in a house with Sigurd. "How did you know?"

"Sigurd's been going around bragging that he won't have to live in that tiny dorm room anymore, and that the guy he's moving in with is the greatest old guy he's ever known."

"Jesiah Black."

Miang opened her mouth to reply when the elevator stopped. The door opened. "Ah...well, let's be on our way then."

"...I'm ok. I can make it by myself. You should head back to class."

Miang shrugged, and nodded. "All right. I'll see you around then, Hyuga. Have a nice day."

  
  
  
  


*****

  
  


"Oh, you. Hyuga Ricadeau?"

Hyuga turned around as fast as he could. He had three boxes in his arms. "Yes?"

A silver headed young man with brilliant amber skin was grinning back at him, arms crossed. He walked up to Hyuga swiftly and took two of the boxes Hyuga was carrying. "You look exhausted. I already got my stuff in two hours ago! So I'll help you out here! How's that sound?"

"Oh, no please...I-"

"Ok! Your room is the one with the balcony, right? Ok, let's go!" Sigurd Harcourt pushed past him quickly and was in the door before Hyuga had a prayer of stopping him. He sighed and walked inside.

"Have you met Jessie yet?"

"Jessie?"

"Yeah, Jesiah Black! When I met him he told me to call him Jessie. I thought that was weird, but great! Ya know? I can call him by his nickname, it'll sound like we've been friends forever!"

Hyuga shook his head. "Yeah, I met him, but he didn't tell me that..."

"No...? Ah, I'm sure he was just in a hurry to get things ready for you! Come on, drop that box there. Is that the last one? Ok! Well I gotta go make a phone call so I'll see you in a second."

And he was gone. Hyuga never understood how Sigurd Harcourt's mind worked. On the outside, he had the eyes, the smile, and the posture of a quiet, likable young gentleman. But he was nothing like that. He was too loud. Hyuga put the last box down on the floor and sat on the bed.

It was a nice room for him. It had big windows, and a sliding glass door led to a balcony. He had a great view of the city, and could see part of Jugend's campus from where he was. He could see people who took night classes preparing to start their "day". And the air was fresh and natural, the way he preferred it. None of that air conditioned stuff to ruin the feel of things. He smiled to himself a bit, and laid down on the bed. It was so tranquil. The dorm rooms at Jugend were never so quiet and peaceful, and the windows were too small. He never had enough work space, and everyone around him was partying all the time. He couldn't see how he had managed to stay near the top of his class with all the noise and distractions.

He gingerly rubbed his left eye, bruised by the incident during gym class. How pathetic he must have looked on his first real meeting with Sigurd. A livid little four-eyed child with a black eye. It looked more like he had bully problems than an accident in physical education.

He heard the door open and close downstairs. It sounded like a group of people had just walked in. He could hear excited foot steps beating on the stairs, and settling into the living room outside his bedroom. Guests? Sigurd did say he was making a phone call...

Oh well. Hyuga pulled himself up, and pulled out the seat to his desk. He sat down and pulled out one of his text books. He had asked Mr. Black earlier for some peace and quiet, he had some important studying to do. The reply he got said "no problem, kid."

And yet, two minutes later the music and yelling he had wanted to escape was shaking everything in his room. Hyuga jumped, even yelped out loud in surprise. It was all right...Jesiah would surely crash their party soon.

After three minutes though, Hyuga was beginning to wonder. He opened the door ajar, and was stiffened by defeat when he saw Jesiah partying with them. He slinked back into his room, and fell backwards onto his bed. He felt pathetic and outnumbered. It was like it didn't matter to anyone if Jugend was the most important thing to Hyuga or not. What mattered was loud music, a big group of people, and pizza by delivery.

Hyuga couldn't tell if he was upset because he couldn't concentrate on studying, or if it was because no one had come to invite him. True, he had all weekend to study. It wasn't that big a deal. But no one thought to let him have some fun too. Make some friends for a change...

He lived here too, dammit! He could walk in if he so pleased!

No, inviting oneself was purely rude. If they hadn't said anything to him, then it must have been because he was unwanted there. Hyuga wasn't wanted anywhere...

Defeated, he took his glasses off and set them on the table next to his bed. He kicked off his shoes and pulled his socks off. Opening the window beside him, he then turned off the light and laid down.

  
  


*****

  
  


As the days passed by, Hyuga was beginning to wish he had stayed in the dorms at Jugend. He couldn't tell if things had been more peaceful there than at Jesiah's place. Sigurd and Jessie were simply too outrageous and extrovert for Hyuga's tastes. And he couldn't talk to either of them. They never seemed to want to talk to him as well. They were always more interested in each other's lame jokes, funny stories, or whatever. When they did talk to Hyuga, it was always asking him to do them a favor. Every time Hyuga was heading out, Jessie had some sort of grocery he would ask him to pick up. He heard the same thing all the time. "Could you pick up some milk on your way home? I'll pay you back tonight!" Problem was, Jessie soon forgot about paying him back because he and Sigurd were always having too much fun. Hyuga was beginning to think he'd have to get another job to be able to pay for food and for college.

And there were always new strangers sitting in the living room. Friends of Sigurd who had been invited over to hang out, eat some pizza, watch some television, get drunk and sing kareoke all the way until daybreak if it was on a weekend. How the hell could Sigurd Harcourt be at the top of his class at this rate?!

Weeks were going by like this, with no end in sight. Pathetic as he knew it was, sometimes Hyuga felt so outnumbered and beaten down, he wanted to cry. He never did. He just felt like he wanted to.

What he really wanted, was decent, agreeable environment. Some friends. He wanted to be Sigurd Harcourt. He wanted to stop being Hyuga Ricadeau...

"Ricadeau!!"

Hyuga jumped, and looked up to see his professor looking right back at him. He blinked, and slowly looked around. His classmates were staring at him, all wearing smiles of taunting amusement.

"Yes...sir?"

"The answer, please?"

"Answer...?"

His professor stood up straight, his hands firmly placed on his hips. It would be the first time he had ever grown impatient with Hyuga. "Dozing off, Ricadeau? Mr. Harcourt, would you please help him out?"

Sigurd stood up, and he cooly replied, "Shevat, sir!" He then sat down. He didn't need the professor to tell him it was right so he could sit back down. It was Shevat they had gone to war with five hundred years ago.

To save Hyuga from further embarrassment, the tone finally rang. It was Hyuga and Sigurd's last class for the day, but that only meant rest for one of them. For today started the weekend. Everyone was asking Sigurd what he was doing that night, huddling around him. Hyuga was, as always, left by himself. He slowly gathered his books, and stopped at the professor's desk before leaving.

"...Sir, I'm sorry about what happened..."

His professor was silent for a moment, then turned to face Hyuga directly. "It's not like you to drift off. You're usually so focused and a good listener. Is something the matter?"

"...to be honest sir, I'm having a little bit of trouble adjusting."

"Hm?" the professor looked back on the group around one Sigurd Harcourt, then back at Hyuga. "So that's it eh? You're just too different from him? Maybe you should look into a different place to stay."

"...I don't know what else is available."

"You could get your own apartment."

"I don't have enough money right now..."

Before the professor could respond, Hyuga bowed to him and walked out the door. His foot steps were swift and anxious.

  
  


*****

"You're not inviting anyone over...?" Hyuga said quietly as he walked through the living room to his room. Sigurd was sitting on the couch, the only other person in the room.

"Nah, most of them had to work on their projects for biology."

Hyuga nodded to himself a bit, and opened the door to his room. Sigurd's voice stopped him.

"Hiding away in your castle again, Dracula?"

Hyuga didn't look at him. He stared at his feet instead. "..."

Sigurd sighed, and stood up. He walked over to Hyuga, and shut the door to his bedroom. "Why do you hate people so much?"

"...I don't hate people. I just don't like crowds..."

Guys like Hyuga Ricadeau had nothing in common with anyone, after all.

"Do you have any friends?"

Hyuga thought a moment. Miang was...kind. Thoughtful, and she also was the only person to have a real conversation with him, and ask him about himself. She never mentioned herself on that elevator. She took a great interest in talking about him. So was she his friend?

"...I have acquaintances."

That didn't count. Sigurd pursed his lips together, standing in silence. Then he took Hyuga by the arm and dragged him downstairs.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

"I'm taking you out to dinner. What's wrong with that?"

  
  


*****

  
  


That ends chapter one! It was pretty lengthy, huh? Well, I'm really pleased with it all the same. Now for some chit chat.

  
  


I noticed how everyone always depicted Hyuga (or Citan) as a stoic type of soldier, one who performs his duty without prejudice. Maybe. But I always thought he had a different kind of past. His eyes always struck me as a mirror to a more vulnerable, puppy-like Hyuga Ricadeau. Now I don't know if Squaresoft ever devised a past for Hyuga or not, if they did, it's probably in my Perfect Works art book, in Japanese, which I cannot read. But either way, I always wanted to make a fanfic about Hyuga the way I saw him.

  
  


I just wanted to do a fanfic about him period. I love that guy so much. ^_^

  
  


Sigurd is supposed to be his opposite here. And those who know Sigurd's face know that he just looks like he would be shy and timid. Hyuga has a stronger jaw, build, and everything. He should be the popular "everyone just loves this guy" one at Jugend, right? Yeah, normally. But that's based on appearances. I wanted to surprise the audience with a change of places.

  
  


Well, obviously there is more to it than that. But that will be revealed in the story, not the author's note. Heh.


End file.
